Considering Super Soil

B

benniespliff

New Member



Hey all, this will be my first non-auto grow and need some help.

I will be starting from seed, and want to make sure I plan it out correctly.

1) Sprout seeds in napkin.

2) Place sprouts in party cups and place in darkness until they reach surface.

3) When they reach surface place seeds under 24 hr CFL.

4) After they grow 5 or 6 nodes transfer to 1 gallon pot and place under 18/6.

5) After 2 weeks transfer final time into 3 gallon pots.

6) 2 more weeks under 18/6 and then place under 12/12 for 8 weeks.

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-How does this look?

-Is growing to 5-6 nodes in the "party cup" too much/big?

-Should I skip the 1 gallon and go straight into 3 gallons

Any other suggestions are appreciated.





I was told that I should skip the 1 gallon pot and go straight to the 3 gallon. My question is:

- By the 5-6 node would the plant not need the nutrients or would it be ok in the party cup with organic soil until I transfer it to the 3 gallon pot with super soil.

- Would it still be to young for super soil and in this case should I transfer to the 1 gallon with more organic soil.

 
SpicySativa

SpicySativa

Well-Known Member
Hey dude. Welcome welcome. Glad to see you decided to grow some real non-auto genetics and stick with organics. Here are some answers for you.

1) Sprout seeds in napkin.

Yup. That'll work.

2) Place sprouts in party cups and place in darkness until they reach surface.

NO! To avoid stretch and get a strong start, you want those seedlings to see light the second they pop out of the ground. Fill those party cups up with some mild organic soil (not super soil). A mix of equal parts peat, perlite, and compost or worm castings works well. Poke 1/2" deep holes in the soil, sprinkle a pinch of mycorrhiza into the hole, place the germinated seeds in there, and cover it up. Stick the party cups right up close under the CFLs with a fan gently blowing over the surface of the cups. Within a day or so you'll have healthy seedlings.

3) When they reach surface place seeds under 24 hr CFL.

(See above)

4) After they grow 5 or 6 nodes transfer to 1 gallon pot and place under 18/6.

Yup. But maybe more like 4-5 nodes. By that time, your plant will be ready for some nutrients. Simply transplanting into a 1-gal pot of rich organic soil will provide enough nutrients at this point. Depending on which recipe of "super soil" you plan to mix up, you probably aren't going to want to put any in the 1-gal pot. If you just have "super soil", just cut it 50/50 with the peat/perlite/compost mix I mentioned in question 2.

5) After 2 weeks transfer final time into 3 gallon pots.

Better yet, transplant into a 5-10 gallon pot. But, 3-gal pots will be fine if this is just a small CFl grow. This one will have your "super soil" in it.

6) 2 more weeks under 18/6 and then place under 12/12 for 8 weeks.

This part just depends on how big you want your plants to be by the time they are finished. Tell us a little about your setup/room/space and I'll let you know how I (personally) would do it. Flowering time will vary from plant to plant, but there are things to look for to know when it's done.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good luck!

Cheers,

~SpicySativa
 
B

benniespliff

New Member
SpicySativa said:
Hey dude. Welcome welcome. Glad to see you decided to grow some real non-auto genetics and stick with organics. Here are some answers for you.

1) Sprout seeds in napkin.

Yup. That'll work.

2) Place sprouts in party cups and place in darkness until they reach surface.

NO! To avoid stretch and get a strong start, you want those seedlings to see light the second they pop out of the ground. Fill those party cups up with some mild organic soil (not super soil). A mix of equal parts peat, perlite, and compost or worm castings works well. Poke 1/2" deep holes in the soil, sprinkle a pinch of mycorrhiza into the hole, place the germinated seeds in there, and cover it up. Stick the party cups right up close under the CFLs with a fan gently blowing over the surface of the cups. Within a day or so you'll have healthy seedlings.

3) When they reach surface place seeds under 24 hr CFL.

(See above)

4) After they grow 5 or 6 nodes transfer to 1 gallon pot and place under 18/6.

Yup. But maybe more like 4-5 nodes. By that time, your plant will be ready for some nutrients. Simply transplanting into a 1-gal pot of rich organic soil will provide enough nutrients at this point. Depending on which recipe of "super soil" you plan to mix up, you probably aren't going to want to put any in the 1-gal pot. If you just have "super soil", just cut it 50/50 with the peat/perlite/compost mix I mentioned in question 2.

5) After 2 weeks transfer final time into 3 gallon pots.

Better yet, transplant into a 5-10 gallon pot. But, 3-gal pots will be fine if this is just a small CFl grow. This one will have your "super soil" in it.

6) 2 more weeks under 18/6 and then place under 12/12 for 8 weeks.

This part just depends on how big you want your plants to be by the time they are finished. Tell us a little about your setup/room/space and I'll let you know how I (personally) would do it. Flowering time will vary from plant to plant, but there are things to look for to know when it's done.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good luck!

Cheers,

~SpicySativa
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply.

I will most likely use subcools recipe:


  • 8 large bags of a high-quality organic potting soil with coco fiber and mycorrhizae (i.e., your base soil)
  • 25 to 50 lbs of organic worm castings
  • 5 lbs steamed bone meal
  • 5 lbs Bloom bat guano
  • 5 lbs blood meal
  • 3 lbs rock phosphate
  • ¾ cup Epson salts
  • ½ cup sweet lime (dolomite)
  • ½ cup azomite (trace elements)
  • 2 tbsp powdered humic acid


I am just finishing up an 8 plant coco grow (autos) so, I have enough time mix and let the soil cook.

I am planning on mainlining 12-15 plants with 8 colas under 2-600w.

That is why I was going to use 3 gallon hoping to get at least 2 oz per plant. Would 5 gallon make a big difference maybe using less plants and getting 4 oz per?
 
SpicySativa

SpicySativa

Well-Known Member
I also use 2 600's. I would recommend 6-8 plants in 10 gallon pots, but that's just me. Super soil (like Subcool's) does best in BIG pots.
 
B

benniespliff

New Member
Have another question.

With super soil do you water until 10-15% run off or try and keep it contained?

I usually grow in coco + nutes and know that you need the runoff partly to keep the salts from building up.

I am thinking about using smart pots and since they are fabric am trying to decide what kind of catch if any I need.
 
SpicySativa

SpicySativa

Well-Known Member
You will want drip trays under your smart pots.

No need to water until 10-15% runoff. Just water slowly and thoroughly until you see a few drips coming out the bottom, then stop. Whatever small amount of drippage comes out should wick back into the smart pot within half an hour or so. With practice, you'll figure out how much water each pot takes, and just give it that much.
 
B

benniespliff

New Member
SpicySativa said:
You will want drip trays under your smart pots.

No need to water until 10-15% runoff. Just water slowly and thoroughly until you see a few drips coming out the bottom, then stop. Whatever small amount of drippage comes out should wick back into the smart pot within half an hour or so. With practice, you'll figure out how much water each pot takes, and just give it that much.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

I was wondering what would be better.

After seeds sprout would it be better to put them in the base soil I will be using in the super soil

or

Peat, perlite, worm casting? If this. at what ratios 1:1:.5?
 
SpicySativa

SpicySativa

Well-Known Member
What's your base soil? Some seedlings will burn if you put them straight into Ocean Forrest or roots organic. I still suggest the peat/perlite/worm castings for the first couple weeks of growth after the seed sprouts. Or you could cut your base soil 50/50 with peat/perlite/castings to "mellow it out" a little.

1:1:1 on the peat/perlite/castings. Or 2:1:1 works just fine, too.
 
B

benniespliff

New Member
SpicySativa said:
What's your base soil? Some seedlings will burn if you put them straight into Ocean Forrest or roots organic. I still suggest the peat/perlite/worm castings for the first couple weeks of growth after the seed sprouts. Or you could cut your base soil 50/50 with peat/perlite/castings to "mellow it out" a little.

1:1:1 on the peat/perlite/castings. Or 2:1:1 works just fine, too.
Click to expand...
I will be using Roots organic so, I guess I will go with the peat/perlite/worm castings mix to be safe.

To have it all laid out it would be:

-Sprout seeds in napkins.

-Place into party cups with peat/perlite/worm castings mix

-At 4-5 nodes transfer to 1 gallon with the base soil (roots organic)

-Transfer to 10 gallon pots bottom half super soil top half base soil.

Good?


*** How long should I keep the seedlings under 24 hr light (CFL) before switching to 18/6 (MH) ?
 
SpicySativa

SpicySativa

Well-Known Member
That sounds perfect. And if they start fading early (leaves going yellow too early in flowering), just top dress with another layer of your super soil (an inch or so).
 
SpicySativa

SpicySativa

Well-Known Member
I personally don't do the layering thing, but it's just my preference. My soil mix is a little mellower than Subcool's (no blood meal, among many other things), so I just use it full strength when I transplant into the 10-gal pots.

With Sub's soil, either layer it 50/50 or just mix it 50/50 with base mix and use that. Either way will work.
 
M

maverickx

Member
As someone who is also going to be using super soil for the first time I want to say this thread has been very helpful. SpicySativa your posts have answered a lot of questions I had.
 
KLITE

KLITE

Well-Known Member
SpicySativa said:
I personally don't do the layering thing, but it's just my preference. My soil mix is a little mellower than Subcool's (no blood meal, among many other things), so I just use it full strength when I transplant into the 10-gal pots.

With Sub's soil, either layer it 50/50 or just mix it 50/50 with base mix and use that. Either way will work.
Click to expand...
Nutirent sensitive strains have a hard time going through supersoil for sure! I recently tried mixing at 1/4 strength with All mix and just top dressed with supersoil as the shadding appeared. Run still not finished but im not really seing any difference in growth nor resin production, still outrageous like par with hydro if not more! I also tried a few pots with at 1/2 and my sensitive strains didnt like it. Im actually considering stop layering and just 'diluting' and then top dress to avoid the stress of going from light soil to heavy soil, even if taking care in doing a good buffer layer.
Whats your opinion on the effectivenes of each method SpicySativa? And what do you like in your soil? I find subcools is great on the mineral and trace side of things especially with added kelp. I am kinda tempted to replace the blood meal with extra castings. Also been thinking that the fish bone meal might be a tad too concentrated and planning to just add more guano... Am i wrong?
 
jbooley

jbooley

Well-Known Member
I use a mix of Roots Organic and some light warrior for my seeds. Just plant them in the mix without the paper towel step. It seems to work well for me. Benniespliff I noticed that you want to keep your plants in the peat/perlite/ worm casting until the 4-5 node. I might be off on this but I would think that you would run out of nutrients before that. I wait until I get 2 nodes and then transplant into straight Roots Organic. I transfer from cups to 2 gal and then to 7 gal with super soil.

JB
 
SpicySativa

SpicySativa

Well-Known Member
KLITE said:
Nutirent sensitive strains have a hard time going through supersoil for sure! I recently tried mixing at 1/4 strength with All mix and just top dressed with supersoil as the shadding appeared. Run still not finished but im not really seing any difference in growth nor resin production, still outrageous like par with hydro if not more! I also tried a few pots with at 1/2 and my sensitive strains didnt like it. Im actually considering stop layering and just 'diluting' and then top dress to avoid the stress of going from light soil to heavy soil, even if taking care in doing a good buffer layer.
Whats your opinion on the effectivenes of each method SpicySativa? And what do you like in your soil? I find subcools is great on the mineral and trace side of things especially with added kelp. I am kinda tempted to replace the blood meal with extra castings. Also been thinking that the fish bone meal might be a tad too concentrated and planning to just add more guano... Am i wrong?
Click to expand...
Check out page 4 of the thread in my signature for my soil recipe. Recycling the soil is KEY. It just gets better.

I did a few runs with Subcool's soil mix a while back. I got good results, but I have didn't like the way the plants reacted when I first put them in it. For me, they showed borderline nitrogen toxicity at first until they hit their stride and took off. I don't get that with my soil; just a smooth transition without skipping a beat at each transplant.

Many have excellent results with Subcool's soil, but this is just what I've found to work well in my garden.
 
B

benniespliff

New Member
Close call..

I was putting together an order for some of the super soil ingredients and then it hit me "RATIOS" I had completely forgot about them. I had to search for a recipe that included them since the high times article does not list them. Needless to say some were way off.

Do they need to be exact? Hell, does it really matter?

I can not find "Fish Bone Meal 3-16-0" just 3-15-0, 3-18-0, and 3-15-0 with 24% calcium.
 
KLITE

KLITE

Well-Known Member
SpicySativa said:
Check out page 4 of the thread in my signature for my soil recipe. Recycling the soil is KEY. It just gets better.

I did a few runs with Subcool's soil mix a while back. I got good results, but I have didn't like the way the plants reacted when I first put them in it. For me, they showed borderline nitrogen toxicity at first until they hit their stride and took off. I don't get that with my soil; just a smooth transition without skipping a beat at each transplant.

Many have excellent results with Subcool's soil, but this is just what I've found to work well in my garden.
Click to expand...
How often do you have to remineralize your soil if recycling? Minerals stay a while in soil right? a good 6 to 9 months? And do you let it cook after replenishing NPK in soil? if so for how long?
 
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